The Blog Peoria Project

Citizen journalism growing in importance in Philippines and India

Citizen journalism goes beyond reportage

MANILA, Philippines – Close to half a million Bayan Patrollers are using citizen journalism skills to engage candidates and government and push solutions to community problems.

As ABS-CBN revs up its Halalan2013 campaign with a final swing of citizen journalism and voters’ empowerment workshops, its integrated news service is tapping the wonders of digital technology to present viewers with the country’s broadest interactive election coverage.

Bayan Mo iPatrol Mo (BMPM), the country’s longest-running citizen journalism program, conducted with partner schools and organizations 46 voters’ empowerment forums and workshops in the last semester of 2012.

WHIPLASH: Katju’s demand overlooks the power of citizen journalism

Markandey Katju’s insistence on qualifications for journalists ignores the fact that most news now comes from social media

From his hallowed perch as the country’s media watchdog, Markandey Katju is well within his rights to demand that journalists should have certain minimum qualifications to be able to practise their craft.

Having known, and worked under, at least two college dropouts now rated among the country’s top opinion makers, however, I have grown to believe that the foundation of good journalism is not the formal qualifications of its practitioners, but the fire in their belly that no education system knows how to judge.

The definition of a journalist, too, has changed dramatically in this age of citizen journalism, RTI activism and the social media.

Tags: Citizen Journalism, India, Philippines